The Collection
by zer0suitsamus
Summary: My take on the episode of TZ called The Collecton. The show inspired me and this is what I came up with. Please R&R!


This is a story that I wrote for my reading class. I was in desperate need for a story, so I sat down and came up with this in 2 hours, turned it in the next day and I received 1st place in a writing contest for it. I got my inspiration from an episode of The Twilight Zone that I had seen a few months ago. At the time I wrote this, I had no Idea that the episode I had based my story off of was also called 'The Collection'. It is similar to the story but my version has different characters and a bit of a different plot. (Take note that the dolls in this story are the fancy, porcelain dolls, not the Barbie-like dolls in the episode of TZ) Please R&R!

**The Collection**

Miss Lydia O'Connor was an old and frail woman who lived by herself. Her husband had long since passed away and her children no longer lived with her. Though she lived without the presence of other human beings, she wasn't completely alone. She had her dolls. No, they weren't just any dolls. They were, I guess you could say, _alive_. Miss O'Connor had started her collection as a young girl; her collection continued to grow through her adult years. Now, as an old and feeble woman, she was unable to do house work herself, so her dolls were there to help her. Though, Miss Lydia had never quite grasped exactly what they were capable of. That is to say, not until it was too late.

"Good morning, Mistress." Said Sally, one of Miss Lydia's dolls, with a curtsey.

"Good morning, Sally, how are you? Miss O'Connor replied, trying to stifle a large yawn.

"Breakfast is waiting downstairs on the breakfast table, Mistress."

"Thank you very much; I'll be down in a minute." Miss Lydia said in response. She rolled out of her queen sized bed and stretched. While putting on her dressing gown, she spotted something unusual out of the corner of her eye. One of her dolls, one that was rarely released from her glass case, was sitting atop her bedside table.

"You weren't there when I woke up [Jeanette." Miss Lydia muttered to herself. Stepping towards the doll, she stumbled over something on the hardwood floor.

Miss Lydia shrieked, "What in the world!?!" She exclaimed, "How on Earth did you get there?"

Jeanette was lying on the floor with a smirk upon her pale face. Miss Lydia bent down to retrieve the doll and placed her back in her display case, locking the door with a small brass key.

Still spooked by the sudden movement of the doll, Miss O'Connor headed downstairs for breakfast.

Finished with the fine meal that Sally and some of her other dolls had prepared for her, miss Lydia decided she would ask Sally if she knew who had let Jeanette out of her case.

"No, I don't know how she escaped. Possibly she got out on her own?" Sally suggested.

"But I keep her locked up; and I have done so for as long as I can remember. Since the first incident…."

"Perhaps it was another doll that harmed you as a child, not Jeanette."

"You think so?" Questioned Miss Lydia, "I don't know who or what else would have tried to hurt me. I have been somewhat frightened of Jeanette ever since I received her on my birthday so many years ago." Miss Lydia answered.

"Believe what you wish, Mistress."

The next morning, Miss Lydia awoke of her own accord. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Miss O'Connor crawled out of bed and changed from her night clothes into more proper attire for the day. Turning to exit the spacious walk-in closet, she noticed something out of place in the full length mirror that hung on the back of the closet door.

"Jeanette!" She exclaimed, "I locked you up yesterday morning! I made sure the door couldn't be opened! How did you get out? Miss Lydia questioned the doll frantically.

Miss Lydia snatched the doll down from the topmost closet shelf.

"I'm putting you back where you belong, Miss Jeanette!" Lydia walked past her bed, which was being made up by a few of her dolls, and over to the glass display case where her collection of doll were stored. She placed Jeanette inside a compartment and locked the door, wiggling the small brass knob to assure herself that the door could not be opened. Miss Lydia turned and headed for the door of the master bedroom and stumbled.

"I-but-how-!?!?" Lydia stuttered. "How did you get out?" She looked back at the glass cabinets-Jeanette's door was wide open. As she turned back to look at Jeanette, she saw not only Jeanette, but all 73 dolls in her collection.

Fear spiked in Miss Lydia. Shrieking, "Leave me alone! I never did anything to hurt you!" She ran down the spiral staircase, only to meet up with the dolls again. Lydia noticed something glint in Sally's tiny porcelain hand.

"How did you get that?" She asked, fear creeping into her voice. "I always keep it in my pocket!" Lydia reached into her pocket but only grasped air.

"This is just too strange! Get out of my house! Leave me alone!" She babbled, turning in the direction of the large, wooden front doors, running as fast as her frail leg would carry her across the polished wooden floor. The weaker of her two legs landed on the glossy surface of the floor, causing her to collapse to the floor, unconscious.

The sudden disappearance of Miss Lydia O'Connor is mysterious to all. Family and friends called only to receive no answer. After being alerted of the situation by concerned relatives, investigators searched the house of Miss O'Connor but found no evidence of how she disappeared. All 74 dolls were on their stands in the glass display case, smiling sweetly back at whosoever laid eyes upon them.

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Author's Note: In case you didn't notice, Miss Lydia was turned into a doll by her collection. This is why it says that there were 74 doll in the collection at the end instead of 73.

Thanks for reading!!!


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